U.S. manufacturing stalls as Romney and Obama enter home stretch

Washington
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In what can only be described as more bad news on the economy for the Obama campaign, U.S. manufacturing closed out its weakest quarter in three years this month.

Adding to the disappointing economic news, claims for jobless benefits hovered at a two-month high again last week. The data suggests the so called economic recovery being pitched by the President has stalled, according to a Reuters report.

The Markit “flash” index averaged 51.5 in the third quarter, below the 54.2 registered between April and June of this year, continuing to present the worst results since the third quarter of 2009.

"With output growing at the slowest pace since the recovery began, the manufacturing sector may have even acted as a slight drag on the economy in the third quarter," Markit chief economist Chris Williamson said.

After growing at a disappointing 1.7 percent annual pace between April and June, the economy edged "closer towards stagnation" between July and September, he added.

An anemic 96,000 jobs were added last month, falling from July's 141,000 count. Both estimates came in well below most estimates. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate dropped to 8.1 percent in August from 8.3 percent for the worst reason. More Americans gave up the their search for work after losing hope.

Poverty rates in the U.S. have increased 24% under the Obama administration while median incomes have shrank by $4,400, according to the Phoenix Business Journal.